U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,425 teaches a thermomechanical working of a sulfur vulcanizable rubber composition containing 30 to 150 phr of silica. The thermomechanical step comprises reaching a temperature of between 130.degree. C. to 180.degree. C. for a time period between 10 seconds to 20 minutes followed by addition of the vulcanization system at a lower temperature. It is believed that the thermal treatment during mixing promotes the sulfur linkages in the sulfur containing organosilicon compound to cleave forming bonds to the rubber and concomitant reaction of the alkoxy groups with the silica. Unfortunately, this thermal treatment requires undesirably long mixing/reaction times. Therefore, there exists a need for improved methods which enhance the rate of processing in the absence of undesirable properties of the vulcanizate.